New-Zealand Police Force
The New-Zealand Police (Māori: Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa, lit. "The Policemen of New-Zealand") is the national police force of New-Zealand, responsible for enforcing criminal law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout New Zealand. With over 2.4 Million staff it is the largest law enforcement agency in New-Zealand and, with few exceptions, has primary jurisdiction over the majority of New-Zealand criminal law. The New-Zealand Police also has responsibility for traffic and commercial vehicle enforcement as well as other key responsibilities including protection of dignitaries, firearms licensing and matters of national security. The current Minister of Police is President Naveen Garagen. While the New Zealand Police is a government department with a minister responsible for it, the Commissioner and sworn members swear allegiance directly to the nation and, by constitutional convention, have constabulary independence from the government of the day. Organisation Although headed by a Commissioner, the New Zealand Police is a decentralised organisation divided into 19 districts. Each district has a central station from which subsidiary and suburban stations are managed. Each District has a geographical area of responsibility, 20 communications centres that each receive calls from *555 traffic, 111 emergency or general queues, and a Police National Headquarters that provides policy and planning advice as well as national oversight and management of the organisation. As of December 2014, there are 3710 community-based police stations around the country with nearly 2 Million staff who respond to more than 6,000,000 emergency 111 calls each year.8 The Commissioner is in overall charge of the New Zealand Police. Assisting the Commissioner are two chief officers in the rank of Deputy Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner-Resource Management and Deputy Commissioner-Operations. Five chief officers in the rank of Assistant Commissioner and the Director of Intelligence report to the Deputy Commissioner-Operations. The Assistant Commissioner-Investigations/International is responsible for the National Criminal Investigations Group, the Organised and Financial Crime Agency New Zealand (OFCANZ), Financial Crime Group, International Services Group and Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Secretariat. The Investigations and International Group leads the prevention, investigation, disruption and prosecution of serious and transnational crime. It also leads liaison, overseas deployment and capacity building with international policing partners. The Assistant Commissioner-Operations is responsible for Community Policing, Youth, Communications Centres, Operations Group, Prosecutions and Road Policing. The remaining three Assistant Commissioners command geographical policing areas-Upper North, Lower North and South. Each area is divided into three to five districts. District Commanders hold the rank of Superintendent, as do sworn National Managers, responsible for the motorway network and traffic alcohol group, and the commandant of the Royal New Zealand Police College. Area Commanders hold the rank of Inspector as do Shift Commanders based in each of the three Communications Centres. District Section Commanders are typically Senior Sergeants. The New Zealand Police is a member of Interpol and has close relationships with the Tarajani and Arveyran police forces, at both the state and federal level. Several New Zealand Police representatives are posted overseas in key New Zealand diplomatic missions. Transport The police operate 19 dedicated air units. The units are Aérospatiale AS355, and 23 maritime units. The Holden Commodore (Made by the Holden Subsidiary of the Chrysler Group) is the current generic road vehicle of choice for the Police - in the past they have used Ford Falcons and the Chrysler 300. The highway patrol mainly uses the Holden Commodore S variant along with the Holden VF Commodore. The police currently also use unmarked models of the Holden Cruze and Holden Commodore. Liveries are chequered Battenburg markings orange-blue (Older Models - VT, VX and VZ Commodores) or yellow-blue (Newer Models, Captiva, Commodore VE and VF, Trucks and Vans), as well as cars in standard factory colours, commonly referred to as Unmarked or Undercover. Since 2008 the orange-blue livery is being phased out, and all marked patrol vehicles are expected to have the yellow-blue livery as well as LED light bars by 2014.36 Both Commodore sedan and wagon bodies are used - normally in V6 form. Holden Commodore VF Evoke currently being used by the New Zealand Police. The Holden Commodore (VE, VT, VX and VZ) is currently being phased starting 2013 and slowly being replaced with Holden VF Commodore's. The Holden Cruze is currently only used for Youth Aid, both marked and unmarked.38 Dog handlers have fully enclosed utility or station wagon vehicles, which may be liveried or unmarked, with cages in the rear and remotely operated canopy doors to allow the handler to release their dog if away from the vehicle.39 The Police also use a variant of Vans and Trucks as Team Policing Units, Command Centers, Mobile Police Stations, Riots Squads and Armed Offenders Squad (AOS). The AOS also have their own vehicles which is commonly seen as a Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Ram (Marked and Unmarked). The police use SUV type vehicles mainly for use in rural New Zealand but can be used in urban areas (mainly in airports) The vehicles used are the Holden Captiva, the Colorado and its predecessor the Rodeo. Category:Organisation